Paint your soul
by hopping-bunny
Summary: Pride is tasteless, size less, and colorless, but it's the hardest thing to swallow. An episode in an ANBU's life when he falls in love. [SasuSaku]
1. L O S T

Author's note: ¾ of this story is told in flashback and it's told in Sasuke's point of view, except for the introduction and maybe the end. _Italics _are thoughts or dreams. I think you can tell the difference. In this story, there are going to be vehicles, maybe phones and some other technology that we have ok? Oh yea, all of them have never met, meaning Sasuke and Sakura. They haven't met yet so she isn't in love with him or something…

I'm going to make it like they never did the ninja school when they were 12 together and there was no team 7, but they are ninjas, and Sakura is still a medic nin.

No, Sasuke is not a power hungry freak who's aftre Itachi, although he may appear in the story and Sasuke still despises him...

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Summary: Pride is tasteless, size less, and colorless, but it's the hardest thing to swallow. An episode in an ANBU's life when he falls in love. SasuSaku

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**An episode in an ANBU's life.

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**

**Chapter 1**

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**_L O S T

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_**

It was a dark misty morning in a lake a few miles south of Konoha. An eerie mist could be seen in the few cracks of light emerging, signaling the crack of dawn. Several mountains and large hills surrounded the lake, their shadowy reflection now illustrating on the motionless water. On a small hillock adjacent to the river, a mansion like house stood still, with many glass windows residing there to allow the lodgers to have a gaze at the scenery.

It was only a one-story lodge, but had a small room as the second floor, that gave an appearance of a watch tower, but was truly a small bedroom. There was a large pane glass window there, but unlike all the other open windows, this one had its curtains drawn. The still lake unexpectedly rippled, causing the tranquil creatures residing there to frantically swim about. All of a sudden, there was an outburst from the lodge as the window shattered into numerous pieces and a man plummeted out, driven out by a mighty force.

Together with the shards of glass and some splintered wood he descended into the water, his back striking the chilly morning coolness as he squinted to spot his perpetrator. A shadow passed across the window, but he wasn't able to notice it because blood oozed down his eyelid, forcing him to shut it closed. He was engulfed into the water and slowly reached the bottom, losing consciousness.

His black shirt waved around in the water, torn in many places, and his arm had been severely injured as chunks of flesh hung loosely from it, barely hanging on. Blood seeped from his torn shirt and it mixed with the water, seeming to have disappeared. His bruised face lay beside his shoulders, his shallow breathing causing bubbles to float out. His other arm lay on his ribs, a wristwatch ticking; ticking away his seconds to live.

"_What do you want from me?" It was more of a statement than a question. The two individuals stood on a small precipice that surrounded an ocean._

"_I don't understand what you're trying to say." She turned around, facing the other way. As the wind blew, their hair tousled around, but other than that noise, there was nothing._

"_Concerning the both of us, what do you want from me?" He asked again, making it clearer._

"_I want to marry you" _

_The background seemed to explode and now only those two stood there in the darkness._

"_I love you"_

_No._

"_I want to marry you."_

_No._

"_I want to live my life with you forever and die with you"_

_No._

_I couldn't protect that._

A few more bubbles erupted from the unconscious man lying on the soft sand in the water. His eyes snapped open abruptly and his body shifted in the sudden realization of his surroundings. He was running out of breath, fast, and he needed to swim out. A few creatures that had surrounded him in curiosity of whether or not he was edible scurried away as soon as he started to move out. He shuffled around, treading the water as he tried to hold in as many breaths as possible. His lungs tightened in his chest, sucking every bit of oxygen left.

His jet black hair, now resembling silky weed, floated around his head making it harder for him to see. He tried to push both arms forward, trying to progress to the surface but as he did so, he realized that his right arm had lost all feel and movement and that it was now useless. He flailed his left arm and his legs and soon he surfaced, taking in many needed breaths as he floated around in the water. He swam to the nearest support which happened to be the wood that was holding the lodge up from collapsing into the water.

He tried to reach up to the patio where he could be safe on land, but his right arm refused to move. He could only move it a couple of inches, but even then, it took him tremendous effort. Giving it up and already knowing that he didn't have enough chakra to even balance on water, he swam using his left arm to the opposite side of the lake; to the grass.

He dragged himself onto the grass and lifted his right arm to rest on his chest so that he wouldn't inflict more damage. Now, he lay there, not having any more strength to move, but was still conscious. The blood that had been from a wound on his forehead had covered up half of his face and was now drying quickly. His left eye had swollen and he could barely open it. The water dripped off of him and onto the grass and he gave an image of a corpse, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

_I am an ANBU, but now my life is in danger._

_I need to get up. I can't. In my body are two shurikens, I think it ripped my skin. My knee is split, my ribs are broken and my nerves on my right arm are weakly connected. I can't give up, I can't die now. He took my Sakura, I need to find her._

"Sa...ku...ra"

_I need to save her. She needs me._

_GET UP. I need to get up. GET UP._

"SAKURA!" He roared out and it echoed in the silence of the land as the sun finally rose above and started to light up the water and the forest.

* * *

_My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I'm a high ranking ANBU officer. _

He ran down the stairs inside his mansion as he fidgeted with his wristwatch and finally fit it on. He shoved open his gates on his front lawn and strolled to a nearby waiting jeep like car and hopped into the passenger seat. Many others who were standing around bowed or saluted and went off to their own cars. He only slightly nodded his head to their respect and he averted his gaze ahead. The car took off and it left a trail of dust behind.

_My name is what dictates my life, sixteen years, the age when I was selected as an ANBU. _

The car halted to a sudden stop and he didn't bother to look back or say a thank-you to the driver, but just kept his stride as he went towards the building. Four other men in similar uniforms stood there, waiting for him and as soon as he reached them, they all stalked up the stairs, into a large room.

_My life was going nowhere, and then it completely changed. Many things happened, things I can't forget, some joys, some sins, and some lies. _

He saw a man squinting and trying to aim his shurikens at the target and from the looks of it was failing miserably. He went up and repositioned the man's arm and as he walked off, the man threw the shuriken and it hit bull's eye. The man turned to thank him but he was long gone. One of his partners repositioned his mask to fit better on his face and they reached some double doors. He stood there, waiting for something, anything.

"Come in." They heard, but he made no movement.

"Push the doors and go in teme!" One of his partners hissed at him and he sighed, shoving it open and strolling in.

_At age twenty, I was selected as one of the head ANBU's, and two years later, selected for the crime branch. _

As he walked in, a woman with blond hair sat in a desk with her fingers intertwined. A man with silver hair, a mask covering his mouth and a head band slanting down his head, covering his left eye(that's the eye right?) smiled at them through his mask. He sat on the opposite side of the woman on the desk. There were five chairs and each of them settled their selves in one.

"Shall we begin?" The woman asked. They nodded.

_I am Uchiha Sasuke, commissioner of ANBU, and this is where all of it began.

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_

Good, bad, delete? Tell me in a review please! I just don't have anything better to do since its winter vacation and so I started this and will probably go through it very fast. It's more of an action-y sort of thing but has romance too…..


	2. I N I T I A T I O N

I have to say that everything that Sasuke's thinking in the present about the past..meaning he's narrating some certain parts is going to be in italics and bold…when its just thoughts that someone had in the flash backs, it is just italics…k?

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_**Chapter 2**_

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**_I N I T I A T I O N

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_**

"This is Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzaka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru." She nodded her head to all of them as she rose up from her seat. She indicated to her right and swiftly, a man with ruby hair appeared in that spot. His arms were crossed and his eyes held black lining around them. He stood there, expressionless, waiting for something to happen. "This is Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara. You have probably heard of him." Gaara just nodded at them and let the woman continue. "But now, he has transferred into our crime branch and throughout this mission he will be informed on every bit and detail that you do. Understood?" She didn't wait for an answer, but resumed her instructions.

"And of course, this is Hatake Kakashi. Crime branch, jounin, and retired, he is an encounter specialist. He has done thirty seven encounters on his own and many more with teams. In one year, he has wiped out twenty S-rank and A-rank criminals; he's one of the best. Also, he is one heck of a comrade and friend and so I have made him your advisor for this mission." She said.

"I would love to!" He said, a little too enthusiastically for the ANBU in there. They all eyed him, but their attention soon went back to the woman.

"These are the top ANBU members; I, myself have assembled this team. You guys are handpicked by me, and will report directly to me. Understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." The five chorused together.

"Kakashi." She motioned to him. He shifted in his seat to show her that he had heard and she went on with explaining about these ANBU's' histories and their strengths.

"This is not a mission you can take easily nor is it a normal mission. This one is long lasting, several weeks, months, maybe even years, but you are to eliminate these criminals no matter what happens." She tossed a folder over and Sasuke caught it. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are to be the leader." And with that, they were all gone in a flash.

"Hey wait! When did I dismiss—Ah forget it.." She said, taking a seat again. She leaned her head on her palm and saw the increasing amount of paperwork. "I hate working…" She groaned as she slammed a fist onto her desk, rattling the earth and creating the entire pile of papers on her desk to shuffle around and drop around her office.

"Oops."

* * *

Sasuke distributed copies to all his comrades in there. "All the information we have on these criminals are in the papers I just gave you." He said. Kakashi watched from the back, eyeing each of them and waiting for some time to give advice. "There's Sasori and Deidara, Kabuto Yakushi, Kimimaro Kaguya, and Hoshigaki Kisame." All of them flipped through their folders and examined each one carefully. "Information on these criminals has been leaking everywhere and I have a few lead on some. It seems that Kimimaro Kaguya is heading to Konoha in a few days and is meeting up near a local bar in the south of Konoha, nearby here. Your instructions will be given soon on how we will approach him."

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_**The five of us, we didn't know what fear meant. The department called us the exalted. We were the best of the best and we knew it

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**_

A shoddy red car drove down a crowded road jam-packed with vehicles. One man sat in the car with a cell-phone next to his ear.

"Have it ready by the time I arrive between the bar and the theatre. Keep it all in a small briefcase and enclose it with seals. You better not let any ninja near you, especially any ANBU." He uttered while chatting. All of a sudden, something shot through the front of the car, shattering the glass there and causing the man to swerve. Sasuke and the others ran towards the car at their full speed so that the occupant of the car wouldn't have time to escape. His face was now clearly seen with the glass shattered and he glanced up at the man who had shot the kunai at the car. His lime colored eyes gazed up to see crimson red.

There were two ruby circles on the criminal's forehead and his silver hair was unnaturally cut with some of it hanging loosely and others tied together loosely with beads. There were red markings under his eyes and his eyes held no trace of fear or emotion. He picked up the kunai and threw it back at the glaring Uchiha but he easily dodged. Slowly, he lifted his arm and pointed all fingers at the Uchiha and from them came out five sharp bones. But Sasuke was expecting that and dodged them as well. The surprised criminal attempted to get out of the car and transport to some other place, but the car was already surrounded.

Neji stood at the door where he was exiting and Kiba stood on the other. Naruto took the top, Sasuke in the front and Shikamaru in the back. His eyes widened at their uniforms. They were all ANBU and he knew he couldn't escape now. In an instant, he started falling towards the floor. It hadn't seemed like any of them had made a move, but as he softly hit the floor with a thud, there were many shurikens driving into his back. A pool of blood circled around him and the five men glanced down. It had taken them less than a minute to eliminate an A-rank criminal and none of them were panting. Neji used his Byakugan to see any motion of life but there was none.

"He's dead." He informed the others, and they were all gone instantly, leaving the body there for the local police to scoop it up.

_Kimimaro Kaguya finished. Only four more to go.

* * *

_

They ran through a narrow hallway and got their stances ready at a small doorway.

"There's a chance that he is with four other comrades as well so be careful…" Shikamaru stated from the back of the group.

"Oh hell with that, we can take them!" Naruto said as he kicked down the door and ran in. Immediately weapons shot at him and Naruto managed to dodge most of them, but he was severely hit in the arms and legs.

"Naruto!" They yelled, but he had already been hit. They ran in and there were five men there, but they could sense many more hiding around. Neji was the first to respond.

"There are twenty men here!" He said as he deactivated his Byakugan.

"Then we better finish them off fast!" Kiba yelled as his form disappeared and half the men standing there suddenly fell to the floor, dead. They nodded and all of them disappeared except for Sasuke and Naruto.

"Naruto, can you still fight?" He asked. Naruto nodded at him as he wrenched the weapons that were jabbed into him out of his body. Blood oozed out but the wounds started healing their selves in an extremely rapid pace. Sasuke nodded back and disappeared.

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_**That's how we fought, no fear and no hesitation for killing.**

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_

A lone man ran through narrow pathway with many houses surrounding him. He turned and ran into a house and immediately started yelling, "ANBU are here! Escape as fast as you can!" All the occupants of the room scurried around, and they hurried out, evading as fast as they could. And of course, immediately, our ANBU members were on their trail. They soon reached them near a large oil mining area where they stood there, waiting for them to arrive. The criminals smirked as the five ANBU approached them. They all scattered different ways and the ANBU immediately split as well.

Sasuke ran down a dusty road leading away from the mining where it started to become silent. On his right, he saw a rusted red door creaking back and forth slowly and he went in, cautiously. The door immediately shut behind him and the room filled with darkness, with only a small crack of light emerging from somewhere in the ceiling creating a bluish glow. A man launched at him from behind and he turned fast and instead of throwing kunai's or doing a jutsu, he reached out his fist and punched him, hitting square in the stomach. The man flew back and Sasuke cracked his knuckles.

Another man caught him from behind and held a kunai at his throat. His smirk only grew wider as he swiftly repositioned himself behind the man and stabbed a kunai into his back, and twisted it, making a sordid sound as the blood dripped down both their shirts. The man that he had previously punched launched himself at him again and thrust a shuriken into his shoulder and thought he had gotten a hit when it poofed to show a log instead.

A few minutes later, the rusty door opened again to reveal Sasuke, and he came out, as if nothing had happened and he had killed nothing. He transported himself back to the original spot and saw the other four there, waiting.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I just wanted to take it a little slower today." He said. They showed no disgust but merely nodded. And they were gone with that.

* * *

There were only three of them there today; Sasuke, Neji and Naruto. The others were awaiting orders to come and arrest him when they were ready. They stood on the roof of a small building and they watched the busy streets below and eyed all the citizens walking around. 

"Is that him?" Naruto asked pointing to a man that was lighting up a cigarette. Sasuke nodded.

"Shikamaru and Kiba are waiting for our orders, should we just arrest him ourselves?" Neji asked.

"Tch." Sasuke said as he stood up from their crouching position. "Why should we arrest him? Huh?"

"Look, Sasuke, in records, there are no cases against him, but all the information that we got is true. He used to work for Orochimaru but now, he is a rapist, and all of his victims are young girls. Two months ago, a fourteen year old girl. She was tortured and is in severe condition right now. After investigating, it all pointed to him." Neji stated. "But, all cases that were done against him were all failures. He was proved innocent for all of them and he escaped prison. The girl he molested is now in the hospital. If we arrest him now, we can give justice to him and the girl will be happy."

"That is, if she can get up from her bed, if she can talk, if she can write, can she do that anymore?" He asked, as he glanced at the two. "Arrest isn't needed" He said as he turned around and shot a kunai down. Its force and speed was so fast, that Kabuto didn't have time to see the object and react to it, and it had struck him square in the heart and he fell.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said, trying to stop him, but was a moment too late.

"Shit." They all ducked behind the wall and Neji activated Byakugan to see what was happening. All the citizens had crowded around the dead body and were all questioning in fear. He nodded to show that he was dead.

"If we arrested him, it would cost the village. We'd need a car, and we need to get oil for that and we need to get men with uniforms on to go and arrest them and then a court and judge. But all I needed to use was one kunai, my cost. Well, I lost 30 yen, but wouldn't the girl be happy? Wouldn't she?" Sasuke asked.

"_This is atrocious." A council sat there in front of the five men._

He laughed.

"_Someone's got to do something about this somewhere." A woman preached._

They joined in on his laughing.

"_There is no respect for lives anymore in this village."_

"_Just a minute ma'am." Sasuke said, wearing his entire ANBU suit. "These three men that we eliminated. What have we done to them that they haven't done to others? They were criminals that were going to get the death sentence anyways, so we offered to do it for you instead of something official." _

"_I don't need to hear any of this Mr. Uchiha. We're talking about human rights. I have your resignation here." She said, holding up a folder._

"_Ma'am, you're talking about human right, but as far as I know, all these men weren't human, they were monsters. So if you want to give me a punishment, go ahead, I'll take it." Sasuke said. And with that, they had their jobs back.

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_

"After six months in the crime branch, you still haven't thought of the consequences. It's enough guys. It's already too much." The five of them stood there on a beach with a girl standing there, talking to them. She held her sandals in her feet as she walked around, preaching, especially to Sasuke and Shikamaru. She had blond hair that was pulled up in a ponytail and one bang came down on the side of her face. She had blue eyes that went along with her hair. She came up and linked her arms around Shikamaru and the rest stared at her, waiting for more. "You have finished your mission so now you can resign. We can celebrate and your lives won't be in danger anymore. I'm sick of seeing and hearing about deaths everyday from you guys." She said, sighing.

"No, Ino." Sasuke said, shaking his head. "We still have two more. Sasori and Deidara. They were the only one that escaped from us. Even if the rest of these criminals had escaped, it would've been fine, but these guys are the top, the biggest ones, and we need to get them. After that, even if I was transferred or fired, I wouldn't have minded. But these guys need to be eliminated."

"What do you mean transfer or fired? They won't do that because the crime branch can't survive without us." Naruto said proudly.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, he didn't say anything because all of them knew it was true.

* * *

_**What Naruto said was true but I had to go after Sasori and Deidara. My gut was telling me that I had to kill them and I wasn't going to ignore that. I lived alone in a large mansion and I didn't have any family anymore and that was my advantage. Many officers had wives and children, but I had the bravery that they didn't. I didn't know what scared or fear meant and anyone, anywhere, I could kill in an instant. I never had to worry about protecting someone, and I liked that. But one day, she came into my life; Sakura.

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**_

_**In my life, I had only acknowledged a few girls, but none had ever captured any interest in me.**_

Sasuke sat in a taxi as he drove home from Tsunade's office. He glanced out his window at a bus stand and heard the shrieks and pain of a girl. He looked at it close and saw that some guys had surrounded a girl and were toying around with her. He narrowed his eyes and ordered the taxi driver to take a U-turn and stop at the bus stand. He immediately got up and went up to the guy that was holding the girl and pulled up his collar. His anger flared and his sharingan activated itself. He slammed his fist into the man's face and the girl ran to the other side of the bus stop. He punched and kicked at all the guys that had been harassing her and as he lifted one of them up to give him a final blow, he heard a cry of fear.

"Omigod!" He heard and he turned his head around to see a girl with pink hair staring back at him. As the bus came by, she ushered some younger girls to get onto the bus. She never left her feared gaze from him. He let go of the collar of the man and his fist fell as he saw her get onto the bus. The girl that had been harassed came and thanked him, but he barely heard it.

_**That was the first time I saw her. **_

"Go, you punks, go!" He screamed at the men that cowered at him and ran.

**_Her eyes held a fear and anger, something that I can never forget. _**

Sasuke brushed off the dirt and walked back to the taxi. He turned to see if she was still watching, and as the bus left, their eyes met for a moment, but the girl turned and broke the eye contact.

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OK! Sakura is scared os Sasuke...I bet you thought that he would save Sakura and she would all be like "oh my savior!" but no..I don't like that...Next chapter, Sasuke and Sakura will have many more encounters!!! Ok, this is my first time writing action so tell me if this chapter sucks…I agree, my introduction was good, but this chapter isn't that great….It was sorta lame…So if you're still gonna stick with me after this chapter, there's gonna be more romance for the next few chapters…k? well, see ya! 


	3. V A N I T Y

_**Chapter 3**_

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**_-

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_**

_**And then I saw her again two weeks later… **_

_**

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**_

Sasuke stood on a bridge, leaning against the railing, listening to Naruto rant on about some random topic. _No action today, just patrolling…_He sighed as he thought that. He didn't want to stand there, idly, listening to Naruto rant, he wanted to move. So he decided to spar with his partner….on a bridge, in the middle of the highway. Yea, not very smart, but when he was irked, he did what he wanted, no questions asked.

He half-turned around to glance below the bridge, and soon fully turned. There she was, strolling along with a couple other girls, in some semi-formal clothes, probably on a day out with her friends.

She laughed at something her friends were saying and she glanced around her, feeling something watching her. As she took a gaze above her, she met with his eyes and he acknowledged her from that previous day by allowing a small smirk to play on his lips. She merely scorned and turned her head away, as if she was nauseated by his presence watching her. A full fledged smirk now played on his lips as he watched her walk away, his previous annoyance now gone, replaced with mirth.

"Eh, teme? What's wrong?" Naruto asked, his gaze averting from where Sasuke was staring at and back to his face.

"Nothing, dobe." He replied, his smirk still wide, almost mistakable for a grin.

"Ehhh? DOBE? HOW could you--"

"Shut up." He turned back, his smirk long gone, replaced with a sneer and a dull gaze.

A ninja popped out of smoke suddenly, and both their gazes averted to him.

"The Hokage has a mission for Uzumaki Naruto." He glanced at the blond and the blond nodded back. "What about Sasuke?" He asked, on behalf of his partner.

"No, the mission only consists of Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji." The messenger informed them. Naruto grinned at the fact that he got a mission while Sasuke had to be patrolling. He turned and made sure the grin was seen by Sasuke, and then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_Great, I have to be patrolling AND I don't have a sparring partner. _

_

* * *

_

Hinata Hyuuga sprinted down the halls upon hearing news about her cousin, Neji.

"Now where is his room?" She wondered aloud as she glanced left and right. She held a little slip in her hand that said ROOM #12 and it flittered about as the wind blew in, also ruffling around her short hair and large jacket. Her cheeks flushed at the sudden cool breeze and she came to a halt as she stood in front of a door that had the numbers 1 and 2 printed on them. She sighed at the thought of her rude cousin lying on that bed, glaring at her as she coming in to see if he was ok.

After all, her father said it was only a minor injury and would heal in less than a week. He was only to be hospitalized for a few hours, but as respect from the Main house, someone had to be sent to visit him, and maybe even walk with him back to the Hyuuga estate. Of course, it had to be her, because Hanabi had to train, and her father was _too_ _busy_ to come himself. It wasn't like he was going to accept her offer of walking him back to the estate so she shrugged and turned the doorknob to go inside.

She only opened the door a few inches and she slipped in, trying to be unnoticed, because of course, Neji would only despise her more if she had made her presence noticeable. His hatred for the Main branch still hadn't resided at all. Her pearly eyes wandered slowly to the bed he was to be in, when she saw someone else residing there instead, staring at her with narrowed eyes, and closely observing her. His blond her ruffled around a little from the open windowed breeze and his narrowed azure eyes gazed at her, wonderingly.

"Eh? Who are you?" He asked, blinking a few times.

"Ano…I'm here to see Neji." She said her blush increasing rapidly as he stared at her.

"Oh! You guys are like--?" He joined his fingers together to make a heart shape "together?"

"Ah—No!" She said, shaking her head furiously, her bangs flying around as she did so. "He's my cousin." She could feel the heat rise more as she saw him nod in understanding and she dipped her head, finding the dull tiles very interesting all of a sudden. His blue eyes never left its gaze and he silently wondered about why she was so red, and how someone could actually be that red.

"Ah—well, he left about an hour ago…um what's your name again?" He said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"A-ano…its Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata." She replied while she desperately tried to concentrate on her index fingers playing together instead of the heat from the blush.

"Ah, Hinata-chan, I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage!" He proclaimed proudly, grinning widely.

She smiled at his enthusiasm but she felt dizzy from the heat that her blush had been providing. She decided to leave before she fainted from blushing.

"Ah, well, I should go now." She said, inching towards the door, but still smiling at him.

"Wait!" he cried out, startling her and making her jump a little. "Its so boring here and none of the nurses will chat with me! Please stay…" He pleaded as tears of boredom trickled down his face. He pouted at her and she couldn't help but smile at his antics.

"Ah—well, I don't know…My father might be mad…" She bit her lip at his disappointed look. "Well, maybe another time…"

"Hey, tomorrow I'm getting out of here, and me and Sasuke are going to the Ichiraku ramen. Want to come with us?" He asked cheerfully.

"Sasuke and I…" She couldn't help but correct his grammar and when he replied, she wished she hadn't.

"Eh? You know Sasuke-teme?" He looked surprised at the fact that anyone knew Sasuke.

"Ah—n" But before she could finish, he started again.

"Great! Since we all know each other, we can go! See you tomorrow Hinata-chan!" He waved at her and she waved back at him gently as she walked out the door. As she closed it, she whispered

"See you tomorrow Naruto-kun…" and with that she slowly started making her way back to the entrance of the hospital.

* * *

Sasuke meandered around the first floor of the mall, having nothing to do on his day off and he glanced around at the bright, inviting stores there, searching for something interesting. As he reached the end of the first floor, an elevator revealed itself and he shrugged, deciding to explore the second floor as well. 

Today, he didn't wear his usual ANBU outfit or his younger genin outfit, but he had relaxed a little, wearing a sweatshirt and loose comfortable slacks. He had looked like he had gone for a jog and entered the mall through curiosity of its contents. The elevator doors swished open with a little ding and he strolled in, pressing the button for second floor. The doors were about to close when someone had come up to them, yelling for it to open.

"A—Wait!" she cried as she came running up the closing doors. Sasuke blocked the closing doors by intersecting his hand, and lightly tapping the side of the door, causing it to reopen. The girl extended her arm to brush her tousled pink bangs out of her face but soon froze as she saw him standing there at the doorway. She glanced behind her shoulder, looking for any other open elevators, but none were on that floor at that moment.

"Are you coming in or not?" He asked, a bit annoyed at the girl's movements.

She hesitantly picked up her dropped bags and entered the elevator, sticking to a corner of the elevator. The doors slowly shut and Sasuke stood there, still not realizing it was the girl from before. She gulped in her corner, obviously afraid of him, and he eyed her few times, and after turning his head to glimpse at her the third time, he realized who she was.

Realization dawned on him of why she was so afraid; he was going to say something to her when the elevator doors _dinged _open again and she ran out with her bags. He smirked at her antics and as he walked out, he noticed a bracelet gleaming in all its glory on the floor and he picked it up, examining it. He assumed it was hers and saw her ahead of him, her bangs bouncing around as she went back into shopping mode.

He jogged up to her and lightly tapped her on her back and she turned around and scorned at who she saw. He brought the bracelet up to her face and she eyed it.

"I think you dropped it in the elevator." He said monotonously. "Here." He stretched out his palm, offering her to take it.

She eyed the bracelet and narrowed her eyes. "You should know that it isn't mine, so keep it for yourself." She _humph-ed_ at him and strolled off in another direction, leaving him there, slightly gaping at her. Someone tapped at his shoulder and he turned to face another girl smiling at him.

"Um—excuse me, that's my bracelet. You found it in the elevator right?" He merely nodded and dropped it into her hands and walked off, smirking at the stubborn pink haired woman.

* * *

"Keep your guards up. I'm going to take a break for a while." Sasuke directed at one of the other officers and he sauntered off to a nearby store. He bought a bottle of water and cooled off by splashing his hair and face with some water, slightly dampening them. He wiped his face with his shirt,(I've noticed that guys do that a lot) and drank the water while leaning against the wall beside the shop-cart. He sighed in content as he cooled off and raked his fingers through his damp hair. 

"Um—One packet of sugar, sir, and two packets of coffee beans--"

_I know that voice _He twisted his head to the side and saw her there leaning over the counter, ordering things for the salesman to bring up. She turned her head as well when she saw him there. Her eyes widened slightly, but she kept her composure and glared at him monotonously.

He nodded at her "Hello." He simply stated. She turned back to the salesman who was gathering all her items. He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, but soon they were raised when she said

"Could you go a little faster?" Well, it hit a spot. He placed the empty bottle on the counter and he slowly just walked back and forth on that spot, with his hands slithering into his pockets, a natural habit he had always had. He half-turned back to her and said "Excuse me." That caught her attention and she half-turned as well to face him.

"Do you live around this area? What's your name?" He asked. It was a question he had asked many people. Of course, since he was an ANBU patrolling officer.

"Where's your house?" He interrogated, not wondering how it would sound to her, but she ignored him.

"Give me one pack of strawberries." She said, turning back to the counter.

"Hey, I was talking to you. Where do you live?" He asked again, a little irked now.

"Do you know me? I don't have to give you an answer." He blinked at her answer and merely watched as she took her bag and jogged off from the store.

* * *

**_She didn't like me and I...liked that._**

_**I had no experience on how to dealing with girls and mostly had no respect for any**_

_**but as for her, I had some **_

_**

* * *

**_

A police type car drove down the bumpy side roads on the streets of Konoha. It was dusk outside, and its flashing lights warned others away from the slowly moving vehicle. Sasuke sat on the passenger seat, speaking into a reciever(?), giving off news to some other place and as the vehicle abruptly stopped, he glanced up to see a commotion happening. As some of the people moved, he looked around to see what was happening, and he saw her face.

Immediately, a smirk played in his mind, and he got out of his seat and strode to the incident. As she gazed up at the new car arrival and spotted him, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. He came closer and asked the other police officer what had happened while she glanced away, realizing her mistake at who he was.

"What happened here?" Sasuke asked, gazing at the small car, at her, and at a man wearing all green.

"You see, he was doing some _unique_ driving on _this_ road and we stopped him and asked for his license. He doesn't have that or any other information with him sir." Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"What's your name?" He asked, the man.

"Rock Lee, sir." He said. "I worked with you when you were a jounin. Remember?" He turned around to the girl and whispered

"Assistant commissioner of the ANBU." Her eyebrows shot up at that comment and she stared at him.

He just ignored Lee and turned his head to the woman behind.

"What's your name?"

She stayed quiet for a moment, but nevertheless answered. "Sakura.."

"Where do you live?" He was inwardly smirking as he asked her these questions again monotonously.

"#1023. Foothill St."

He nodded at her answer. "When I asked you that day, you didn't tell me. Why? Huh?"

Her eyes darted around, avoiding contact with his and he skipped her answer.

"Where did you go?" He asked, digging further.

"A movie." She simply stated.

"Do you have your ticket?"

Rock Lee interrupted there. "Well, there were some free snacks if you deposited the tickets at a nearby store from the movie theatre so we don't have them. Sir." He saluted at him. Sasuke almost snorted.

"What is she, your sister?" He asked in further and her eyes widened at his interrogating.

"No sir, friends." Lee answered.

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Friends, mean friends." She said in a sharp tone, almost glaring at him.

He noticed that he was going too far and he went back to business. "What were you doing on this road. You're not supposed to be here, that's why we put the barricades." He stated everything simply. "Don't think of it as a shortcut. It's not safe. Don't do this again, especially at night, with a girl by your side. Shouldn't you be carrying your information?"

"Yes." Lee looked depressed at himself. "Sorry sir."

"Ok, keep going." Sasuke said, striding back to his car as Sakura watched him, gaping at who he really was.

* * *

Sasuke signed Naruto out of the Hospital and they strolled out, heading towards Ichiraku ramen stand. Naruto spotted Hinata leaning against a tree nearby and he gestured for her to join them. She shyly walked up to them and Naruto beamed at her. 

"What's she doing here?" Sasuke asked, and he was going to add a '_and who is she'_ when Naruto interrupted.

"Well, Sasuke, you already know Hinata-chan and she knows you, so no need for introduction. Lets just go! I'm hungry!" He whined. Sasuke snorted. He'd make up anything to get to ramen.

HInata let Naruto go ahead and she whispered into Sasuke's ear. "Just play along or else he'll find out we don't know each other.." Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

_I thought Naruto made up the fact that we know each other...? What the hell is going on? What am I missing out on...?_

And then, suddenly, Naruto halted. "Oh yea, Sasuke. On my mission, the reason why we were hurt was because we ran into something." Sasuke listened intently, wondering where this was going.

"Akatsuki." Naruto finished and Hinata, who was walking beside Sasuke could almost see his blood boiling and see the steam coming out of his ears.

* * *

OK, well, it took me a while. I'm sorry but I got caught up with moving...This is where they officially meet! WOO HOO! more romance to come...and I'm gonna make another story except its tentenxNejixSakuraxSasuke...with my friend...its gonna be VERY dramatic and funny and romancy and angsty and basically everything...so just sayin... 

THANKS FOR READING AND IT WOULD BE **_GREAT_ **IF YOU REVIEWED! I'LL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER BASED ON RESPONSE FROM READERS

Jan ne!

Until, NEXT time...dun..dun..dun..


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